1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fixed and fluidized bed water gas shift reactor using syngas from waste gasification and a hydrogen production method using the same, and more particularly to an apparatus and a method using the same, which produce hydrogen by a reaction of carbon monoxide in the syngas, obtained by gasifying combustible waste, such as residues of scrapped cars, plastic waste, and living waste, through partial oxidation or thermal decomposition at a temperature of 1,300˜1,700° C., with water to increase the proportion of hydrogen in the syngas. That is, the syngas containing hydrogen, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulfide, and hydrogen monoxide generated from gasification of combustible waste contains carbon monoxide at a concentration of 30˜50%. The syngas and steam are supplied upward from the lower part of a gas reaction tank to fluidize a catalyst, or are supplied downward from the upper part of the gas reaction tank to convert carbon monoxide into hydrogen on the catalyst, thereby increasing a hydrogen production rate.
2. Description of the Related Art
In order to simultaneously solve environmental and energy problems due to global warming and resource exhaustion, use of renewable energy has been increasingly expanded.
Further, various trials to produce energy from waste, which is generated every day, other than energy sources obtained from nature, such as the force of the wind and the force of the sun, have been made.
Among methods to dispose of waste, which have been devised so far, land reclamation is gradually reduced due to lack of reclaimed lands and increase of environmental pollution, and incineration to dispose of waste by burning is not widely used due to the purpose of only reducing the weight of waste and worries about the environment.
Therefore, a gasification process or a gasification and melting process to convert waste into syngas containing hydrogen and carbon monoxide has been developed. The gasification process of the waste is capable of producing hydrogen, which is a representative clean fuel, but produces syngas containing carbon monoxide at a concentration of 30˜50% of the total amount of the syngas. For this reason, simple heat and electricity production through an industrial furnace, a boiler, etc. is used as a general energy production method.
Accordingly, in order to achieve use of clean energy resources, such as use of fuel cells and production of alternative fuel, conversion of carbon monoxide of a high concentration into hydrogen is required.
Generally, in order to convert carbon monoxide into hydrogen, a fixed bed water gas shift reactor, which is used in a natural gas reforming process, is employed. However, the above reactor has a low conversion rate, and thus application thereof to conversion of carbon monoxide at a high concentration of 30˜50% into hydrogen is difficult.
For example, Korean Patent Registration No. 0462286 discloses a water gas shift catalyst with ceramic on metal morphology and a method for manufacturing the same, in which ceramic is supported on metal, differing from a conventional method in which metal is supported on ceramic, to increase catalytic activity and thermal stability. However, although the above method improves catalytic activity, compared with the conventional method, the above method is suited to conversion of CO gas of a small amount and thus is not suited to conversion CO gas of a high concentration, which is the subject matter of the present invention.
Further, Korean Patent Registration No. 0834298 discloses a process of converting carbon monoxide into hydrogen by injecting steam into water gas during disposal of waste. However, the above process is used as a preliminary process of burning hydrogen rather than collecting hydrogen.
Therefore, researches into a hydrogen production system and method, in which water gas containing carbon monoxide at a high concentration is reformed to increase a hydrogen production rate, have been required.